


Teenage Wasteland

by BriMarie



Series: Spooky Season Fics [2]
Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: 31 Days Of Halloween, A tiny bit of angst at times, Apocalypse, Based off daybreak, Enemies, Enemies Working Together, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Frenemies, Halloween, Lime, Nini Salazar roberts - Freeform, Nini centric technically but I still switch POVs, Non-Graphic Violence, Nuclear Apocalypse, Post-Apocalypse, Ricky Bowen Needs A Hug (HSMTMTS), Slow Burn, Soft Ricky Bowen (HSMTMTS), high school musical the musical the series - Freeform, hsmtmts, kinda graphic sex scene so i went ahead and made it mature, not scary at all but apocalpyses seem appropriate for halloween fics, ricky bowen - Freeform, rini - Freeform, stuck together, too many tags I’ll shut up now
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-10
Updated: 2020-10-10
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:27:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26841394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BriMarie/pseuds/BriMarie
Summary: After a nuclear explosion kills all adults over the age of 20, the survivors were left to fend for themselves.What happens when two childhood enemies cross paths and have to work together during the end of the world?~Loosely based off the show Daybreak~
Relationships: Ricky Bowen & Nini Salazar-Roberts, Ricky Bowen/Nini Salazar-Roberts
Series: Spooky Season Fics [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1925980
Comments: 10
Kudos: 33





	Teenage Wasteland

_October 15, 2021_

_This is not a typical love story. Then again, things haven't been typical for months now. I'm starting to forget what normal life was like. To whomever gets this journal in whatever time period you are in, know this, 2020 started as the worst year of my life, and yet I still found a silver lining. You must be a little confused, so it's probably best that I start at the beginning. My name is Nini Salazar-Roberts. I'm 19 years old, and this is the story of how I found a break in the clouds in the midst of a storm._

***

_January 12, 2020_

"You know Kourt, I think the future is looking bright." Nini says as she takes a book from her locker.

"And why is that?"

"Well, I'm basically on top of the world. I'm going to my dream school in the fall, I have amazing friends, I'm gonna be graduating at the top of my class, and I'm overall content with life at the moment. I haven't felt this reassured in a while."

"Well I'm glad you're finally gonna start stressing less. Lord knows you overwork yourself far too much for an 18 year old girl."

"Yeah yeah I know, but hey slacking and not stressing wouldn't have gotten me into Juilliard."

"I mean I guess, but enough about school. Since you're gonna start chilling, maybe we can go to a few parties or football games. I heard the after parties are hella fun even if they lose."

Nini scrunched up her face. "I said I was gonna stop stressing not go apeshit."

Kourtney pokes out her lip. "Ugh when are you gonna start easing up? You're gonna wake up one day and realize you let life pass you by and wish you lived a little."

"I seriously doubt that. Besides, the over fantasized teen rebellion trope is far too idealized by popular media. It makes kids think they have to party and rebel in order to feel alive when that's simply not true."

Kourtney rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Alright fine you win. We won't go partying. What do you wanna do instead?"

"How about we go to the movies? Haven't been there in a second."

"Sounds like a plan."

The sound of rock music blaring through some speakers erupted in the hallway causing both girls to turn their heads. Nini made a face of disgust when she saw the culprit and turned to face her friend having no desire to even look at him.

Her arch nemesis since childhood, Ricky Bowen, walked through the hall with his stupid gray speaker with his equally annoying friends walking next to him. Ricky and Nini have hated each other for as long as they could remember. She barely remembers how it all started, but she does know why she still despises him.

They were polar opposites in every way. He was a slacker; she repented procrastination. He loved to party; she loved to stay in. He was a total nuisance; she liked keeping to herself. The one thing they shared in common was their bitterness for each other.

"Does he always have to blast his fucking music every morning? God, he's the literal worst."

"I don't know. Then again, it's not like I'm trying to analyze the mind of a dumbass teenage boy." Kourtney looks over at him and notices he's approaching them. "Caution, he's on his way over here."

Her locker slams shut from behind her mildly startling her. She slowly turns around to face the tall teen and folds her arms.

"Is there any reason why you're bothering me Bowen?"

"What? Is there anything wrong with wanting to say hi?"

"It is whenever you hate that person."

"Ouch, you hurt me when you say such hurtful things Sal-Robs."

"I told you to stop calling me that."

"Naïve of you to think I'd listen. You should know me better than that sweetheart."

"You're so fucking annoying."

"Well you're uptight."

"And you're an asshole!"

"You're a priss!"

"Well you're-

The sound of the bell ringing for first period rang, cutting her off.

He smirked down at her. "Well as much as I'd like to continue our little talk, I've got more important things to do. Nice chatting with you _Sal-Robs._ "

"Don't call me that!" She yells after him as he walks away. Kourtney placed a hand on her friend's shoulder.

"Honey you gotta give that up. He'll never call you your first name."

Nini sighs. "I don't even know why I amuse his antics anymore. I just can't help myself. That man really knows how to get under my skin."

"I know hun. Come on, we have to get to class."

***

_January 15, 2020_

January 15 was just an ordinary day for most people. It'd occasionally land on MLK day, it's someone's birthday somewhere, and wasn't exactly a day people would bother to look forward to or acknowledge.

But that all changed.

You couldn't meet one person that didn't know the weight of the words January 15. People could tell you exactly where they were and what they were doing that day. It was a jinxed date, a cursed six syllables, forbidden and painful to talk about, and most didn't.

In the evening of this day, Nini had been at her home teaching her only student, Cody, the basics of piano. He was a quiet kid that kept to himself but enjoyed the sound of music much like her, so she didn't hesitate to say yes when his mother asked him to teach him after witnessing her play at a school recital.

He pressed his fingers around the keyboard trying his best to play Beethoven's Fourth missing a few beats.

"You missed the c note on that one."

"S-sorry Nini." He tried to hide his blush behind his long brown hair.

"No worries, practice makes perfect." She reassured him.

He played it a few more times and finally got it the fifth time. He beamed and clapped his hands. "I did it!"

"Yes, you did! I'm so proud of you! I think this calls for a little celebration. How about an ice cream on me?"

He smiles a toothy grin showing all his missing teeth and surprises her with a hug. "Thank you so much Nini!"

She embraces him back and grins. "No problem kiddo. Hey if you beat me to my car, I might even throw in a candy bar for when you get back home."

He quickly got up from the bench and ran for the door. She grabbed her keys and met him out the door. She saw her moms both pull into the driveway a little earlier than usual while Cody waited impatiently at her car parked on the street.

"Hey guys where are you heading?" Momma C says.

"I believe I owe the little dude an ice cream. Hey, Cody can you not stand so close to the street please?"

"Well you two be safe. We're gonna start up dinner while you're out." Momma D states.

Nini sees Cody looking up at the sky for some reason, but doesn't pay it any mind. "Alright Cody hop in. The door's unlocked."

The kid didn't budge though; he still focused on whatever caught his attention. She looked in the sky and noticed it was suddenly more orange than usual, but it wasn't concerning enough to pay attention to. After all, evening skies were usually that color. 

Maybe she couldn't see whatever he was seeing from her perspective, so she began walking up to him.

"Hey did you hear me?"

He took a quick second to look at her before turning his eyes back at whatever he was staring at. He began walking towards it, which made her speed up her pace since he was walking in the road.

"Hey, don't walk off into the street like that!"

"What's that falling light in the sky?" He pointed at what he was referring to.

She raises a brow. "What light in the sky?" She stands beside him and looks into the horizon. She squints her eyes when she spots it. There was some sort of ball of blood orange light she can't make out rapidly dropping from the sky.

"What the hell?"

They watch as the light falls and finally hits the ground. When it did, the entire surface shook like an earthquake, knocking the both of them off their feet.

"Kids?! Are you guys alright?!"

Nini hears her Momma C ask. She looked over at Cody who had been on the ground staring into the horizon in fear. She follows his sight, and her eyes widen. A large wave of some sort of light ray was swiftly making its way towards them.

Nini quickly pulled Cody towards her and began running towards the house.

"Moms, get inside!"

"What, why?"

"No time; just go!"

Right before she was able to reach her porch, the wave had passed through. She was once again knocked down to her side accidentally releasing her grip on Cody. She can hear ear shattering screams from her mothers and a few neighbors, but the thickness of the orange wave was hard to look through.

Nini gets in fetal position waiting for this whole thing to pass by. She waits for what feels like she's but was probably minutes before the wave finally cleared up. She coughed as debris entered her lungs and tried her best to cover her eyes as she searched for any survivors.

"Cody! Moms!"

She was met with silence. "Cody! Moms! Can you hear me?!" 

More silence. She hears rustling from a nearby bush and hears Cody harshly coughing. She ran over towards the sound of his barks as the smoke cleared up. When she finds him, she gets on one knee to get a better look at him.

"Oh my god, are you okay?!"

He lets out a few more coughs and dust off his clothes. "I think so." He looked around and saw a few other neighbors across the street all coughing and looking for loved ones. "What happened?"

Nini shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine."

"Where are your moms?"

She was so focused on him that she forgot to check up on them too. "Stay here." She saw her Momma C's necklace lying in the grass and picked it up, but there was no sign of her.

She ran into her house and began searching the perimeter up and down calling out both of their names but came up empty handed.

She felt her heartbeat pick up, and her eyes welled up when she realized what probably happened. A part of her kinda knew already, but she didn't want to give up on them just yet. She did three more searches and still found nothing.

She falls down to her knees and begins sobbing, finally accepting the worse. They were gone. Just vanished into thin air somehow, yet for some reason her and Cody were still here. She hears footsteps approaching her but didn't care enough to look up from her palms as she bawled.

"Nini, what's wrong?"

She mustered up enough strength to mutter words. "My parents...they're gone."

Cody gasped. "Gone? Like forever?"

Nini nodded and teared up more when he said forever. "I-I think so yeah. The wave... I think it wiped them out."

Cody was about to hug her but stopped when he realized that his parents could be gone too. "I have to go home!"

Nini finally looked up from her palms. "Wait, it's not safe!"

"I need to see if my mommy is home! I'll come back!"

She watched as the 11 year old jotted out of her home into a danger zone. She wanted to chase after him but couldn't find the will to, so she just went back to weeping.

She could over hear cries and screams from outside from people who sounded about her age probably looking for their loved ones too. She wasn't sure if she would carry on, so she just curled herself into a ball on the floor, letting herself be consumed by her dread trying to accept that this was life now.

And there was nothing she could do about it.

***

_April 21, 2020_

It's been three dreadful months for Nini.

Of course she wasn't the only one. Cody never returned all those weeks ago, and she assumed something might've happened to him. But it's not like she could go out and find him either because it was dangerous to set foot outside nowadays.

Ever since the explosion, the remaining people tried their best to survive without their loved ones and some basic needs. When Nini would browse the people when she was out, she noticed all of them were under the age of 20. The oldest person she saw was a girl who graduated last year from her high school that was 19. She realized that for some reason the explosion only killed adults.

The first weeks were the calmest with most people choosing to stay inside their homes and only going out for necessities. Then people began to group up and start searches for needs, which Nini had no problem with. That is until these groups began to get hostile with people who had something they wanted. 

The group got bigger over time and eventually became known as the Outsiders. The Outsiders were known for their violent tendencies to get what they want. They conquered two towns, Salt Lake and West Valley City, and made it their territory. God forbid someone accidentally gets caught on their land.

It was almost barbaric the way they ruled over people with no sense of humanity. Nini was both afraid and repulsed by them, and she wasn't the only one. All she knew about them was that they were ruthless, they resided in a mansion a few blocks away, and the leader was the high school's old quarterback, EJ Caswell.

They recently started raiding and looting people's homes since they already hit up all the grocery stores within the town and its neighboring city. That's what drove Nini into fleeing to California. 

Salt Lake was no longer her home. It was a warzone, a prison. So she packed up her bag with essentials and a few little pieces of her former life and hit the road without turning back. 

She knew it wasn't wise to use vehicles because they were loud and drew attention to her, so she rode her bike all the way to West Valley without bumping into any threats. She used back roads and grassier areas to avoid being seen since Outsiders usually weren't there. 

She spots a deserted gas station on the side of the road and decides to check it out for any possible food or materials she could use. She leaves her bike outside and whips out one of her knives just in case a threat was in there. 

She peeks into the shop, scans the perimeter, and was glad to see she was alone with the exception of a few animals. She roams through the aisles of junk food.

The sound of the front entrance creaking gets her attention. She silently gasped and hoped it wasn't an Outsider. She readied her knife and hid behind one of the shelves waiting for them to approach her.

She hears footsteps walk into the store slowly getting closer to her. She sees the shadow of what she assumes is a man on the floor, and her heart began pounding out of her chest. She sees the shoe of the person in her peripheral vision and sprung herself on top of them, knocking them both to the ground.

She didn't even bother to look at who it was until she was hovering over them with a knife to their heart. Her eyes widened at the sight of a man she hasn't seen in months. 

"Nini?"

"Ricky?"

"Dafuq are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing Bowen."

He glances down at the knife at his chest. "Are you gonna kill me?"

She looks at him with a blank face. Sure he's annoying and all, but he wasn't a threat to her life. Plus, she has no desire to kill anyone when she doesn't have to. She puts the knife away.

"Not unless you give me a reason."

"Good to hear. Now, do you think you could maybe get off of me? You're surprisingly heavy."

She scowls at him. "I should've killed you." 

He snickers as she gets off of him. "Yeah right, you don't have the balls."

"Don't test the waters."

"What? You and I both know I'm right. Any other person wouldn't hesitate to kill me if I just walked in."

She hated that he was right. She rolled her eyes. "Whatever, just get what you were here for and go."

"Actually, I think I already did. Catch you later Sal-Robs." He quickly made his way out, which mildly confused her since she didn't see him grab anything.

She checked for her weapons and noticed that one of her knives had gone missing. She looked around the store for it but found nothing. That's when it hit her.

"Ricky Bowen, you cunning little shithead."

She grabs a few things that could benefit her and leaves the store, cussing under her breath as she thought of that damned curly headed thief. 

An hour after she saw Ricky, she had stopped on the side of the road for water and a leg break. She had been pedaling for what seemed like centuries. As she chugs down her bottle, she hears rustling from the woods. 

Her head snapped in the direction of the noise waiting for something to pop out. She waited for a full minute but heard nothing. Maybe it was just the wind. She went back to drinking her bottle, but she was stopped by an arm putting her in a choke hold.

She scratched at the arm as it pulled her off of her bike. She tried to scream, but her vocals were being blocked by the arm. She squirmed as the person put a bag over her head. 

"Get her bag. It might be useful. I'll strap her up." She hears a male voice say. She notes that there's at least two people there. The man picks her up and throws her into what she assumes is the trunk of some vehicle. She knew they were Outsiders since they were the only ones who had vehicles. He ties her arms around her back.

"She's all strapped down. Start the engine."

She began yelling hoping someone would hear her but stopped when she realized no one was coming. She allowed herself to cry in silence fearing what was to come when she left this trunk. 

Fifteen minutes later, the car finally stops. She hears the men speak to a few others before opening the trunk. She feels two men picking her up and she begins squirming to make it difficult for them. 

They end up dragging her to some room she can't see yet due to the bag still being over her head. 

One of the men undo her ties and replaced them with a metal chain on one of her wrists. She feels him attach the other side of the chain to something else.

He pushes her to the ground. "You and the other imposter better get comfortable cuz you're gonna be roommates for a little while."

Other imposter? Was she sharing a room with someone else? He rips the bag off of her head before making his way out of the small dark cell. 

"The hell?" A familiar voice says.

She looked over and followed where the chain ended. She gasped when she saw what it was attached to, or she guesses she should say who it was attached to. 

Ricky fucking Bowen.

"What're you doing here?"

"Same as you Sal-Robs. Got caught in their land and ended up here."

She sighed as she realized she'd be stuck with her arch nemesis for an uncertain amount of time. "Kill me."

"Ouch, am I seriously that much of an inconvenience to you?"

"Shut. Up."

"Someone's crabby today."

"Well I'm pretty sure anyone in my position would be a little agitated!"

"Keep it down Sal-Robs. They don't like yelling."

"You know what? How about we both don't speak then cuz we'll just end up in a screaming match if we talk to each other."

"Fine by me sweetheart."

"Good!"

"Great."

They turn away from each other as much as they can and ignore the other for the remainder of the day. She was just thankful the chain was pretty long so she didn't have to be so close. This was literal hell.

***

_April 29, 2020_

It has been a week of this bullshit, and she's willing to accept a knife to the throat at this point. Anything to not be stuck in a cell with someone who keeps irritating her on purpose.

He pretty much wouldn't stop talking the day after she arrived, and she swore that she'd probably choke him in his sleep if he sang one more line from Bohemian Rhapsody. 

Today, she woke up to the sound of chains rattling. She opened her eyes to see Ricky on the other side of the cell sawing at the chains with a shank he must've made. 

"What are you doing?"

He looks up at her for a moment before turning his attention back to his task. 

"Isn't it obvious? I'm trying to escape."

"You don't seriously think that little concoction will break a metal chain do you?"

"Don't knock it before you try it."

"It's not gonna work you idiot."

"Alright but when I eventually break free, don't come begging me to bring you along with me."

She humorlessly laughed. "Sure Bowen."

All of a sudden, blaring noises came from outside making the both of them jump. They hear screams and commands from the halls. Smoke can be seen from under the cell's door.

"What the hell was that?"

He shrugs. "Sounded like a smoke bomb."

They hear chanting like noises from people they assume were not the Outsiders. Whoever was outside was banging on the walls and breaking things. 

"They're everywhere! Call the commander; we're under attack!" One of the Outsiders yell.

Ricky and Nini look at each other, and they're pretty sure they're thinking the same thing. 

Ricky looked as if he were gonna say something, but he never got the ability to because they hear the sound of their cell opening. A man completely dressed in black with a skeleton mask comes in with a series of weapons across his body.

"Freedom to all! Death to Outsiders!"

He makes a victory screech and leaves the door wide open for them to exit. They see a bunch of other prisoners and rioters running through the halls. They look at each other for a moment before quickly getting up not wanting to stay in this prison any longer. 

They both ran out of the cell but were still unfortunately chained together. Nini sees her bag laying out on the floor in the hallway. 

She begins running towards it dragging Ricky behind her. 

"Woah slow down!"

"Slow down? You speed up! We need to grab some weapons and get the hell out of here." She quickly grabbed her bag while he tried to grab as many weapons as he could that was sprawled across the floor of the hall. 

They follow the other rioters and prisoners towards the exit purposely trying to blend with the crowd. When they get outside, they see a straight up battle outside. The invaders and Outsiders were slaughtering each other brutally as prisoners tried to escape or fight back for revenge. 

Though revenge would be sweet, finding an exit to this headquarters would be sweeter. 

"Ricky, we need to find a way out somehow."

"I know a way." 

"What, how?"

He hesitated to tell her but hid his expression with a blank face. "I tracked my footsteps when they brought me here. There's a wall we can jump. It'll be harder to jump it with these chains, but it's not impossible."

She was a little iffy with his plan. "Are you sure it's the best way? Some guards might see us."

"Nini, you've gotta trust me just this once."

She sighed realizing they really didn't have that many options. "Lead the way."

He leads them down a dark pathway that's far away from all the action. It eventually led to a brick wall that had the woods on the opposite side. The wall luckily wasn't too tall; it was about 6 feet from the ground.

"I'll climb first and then pull you up." He says. 

"Are you sure you'll be able to lift me?"

"Well I'm pretty sure you couldn't lift me up if you went first."

She couldn't argue with that. "Alright fine, but if you drop me, I will kick your ass. We clear?"

He snickers. "Crystal." He climbed up the wall as if he had done it numerous times before. Nini felt the chain tighten the farther he got up. When he reached the top, he held out a hand for her.

"Come on."

She grabbed his hand and let him help her reach the top. As she was climbing, an arrow hit the wall a few inches away from her. She turns her head to see a group of angry Outsiders with bow and arrows aiming at them.

"Shit!"

"Climb faster!"

She climbed as fast as she could as he yanked her up with both hands. He finally was able to get her on top with him, but the Outsiders kept shooting at them. 

"We gotta jump together!"

Before she could respond, an arrow grazes right through the gap between them causing them to lose balance. They both fell into the bushes on the other side, grunting when they felt the pain of falling awkwardly.

She hears the men running towards the wall and tries her best to ignore the growing ache in her body. "We gotta go, now!"

When he sees the Outsiders climbing the wall at rapid speed, he musters up the strength to get up. They both run with all their might into the woods not even daring to look back. 

They ran a good mile into the woods until they decided to check if they were being followed. They were pleased to see it looked like the Outsiders gave up a while ago. They both took a breathing break.

"I think we lost them." Ricky says in between breaths.

"Yeah, I think so too."

He peers over at her bag. "You wouldn't happen to have anything that could break these chains would you?"

She looks through her bag and shakes her head. "No, I didn't pack anything for that."

He rolls his eyes and groans. "Come on Nini, aren't you supposed to be the over prepared one? How do you not have pliers or something?"

She felt her cheeks get hot with anger. "Well excuse me for not carrying around pliers in my bookbag that could barely fit a large textbook! It's not like I planned to get chained to an asshole. Besides, you could've grabbed something useful too."

"How would I have had time to find something? There were really only knives and guns on the ground, and it's not like I had time to be picky."

"Whatever Bowen. You were always finding excuses for your actions, and it seems as if nothing has changed."

"I'm not starting with you right now. Let's just find some place to lay low. I'm not sure where to go first though."

She looked at their surroundings and remembered a device she had brought along. She reached in her bag and pulled out a compass. She began pointing it to see where west was. 

"You have a compass? What year is it 1698?"

She scowled at him. "Well it's not like I can pull up google maps anymore. Technology is basically useless now. Plus, they're handy for situations like this, so suck it."

He rolled his eyes knowing that she was right. When the compass landed on true west, she perked up. "Alright, I got a signal. Let's go."

"Lead the way Christopher Colombus."

"If we're gonna be stuck together, it's probably best we both don't talk unless it's necessary."

He huffs. "Whatever, it's not like we'd have a lot to talk about anyways."

She just turns her attention to the compass having no desire to clap back at him. 

After hours of walking into the depths of the woods and desert, the sun began to set. They both knew it was extremely unsafe to be out at night regardless of where you are. 

Luckily, they were able to find an abandoned shed in the middle of the woods. It was better than sleeping out on the ground where enemies can come and snatch them. They both pull out a weapon just in case there's a threat inside. 

When they opened the door, a few bats flew out of the shed causing Nini to squeal. Ricky laughed at her, and she stomped on his foot to shut him up. The shed was pitch black to the point that it was impossible to see anything. 

"You wouldn't happen to have a flashlight in that handy dandy bag of yours would you?"

"I actually do."

She flicked the light of the flashlight into the shed and saw that no one was in it. She did spot a few matches and old candles on the wooden table.

They walked over to the table, and Ricky lit all the candles with the matches. The whole shed could be seen with the candle's light. Ricky scrunched his nose when he noticed there were no pliers or sharp objects that would break their chains.

"This little place gives me strong _Evil Dead_ vibes."

Nini shivers at the thought. "Please don't put that idea in my head. I don't need to have a wandering mind right now."

He smirks. "Awe, don't tell me Ms. Nini is scared of horror movies."

"Oh please, we're currently living in a horror movie. We have been for months. I'm sure it doesn't get scarier than this."

His smirk falls. He sees there's a tablecloth on the table. "We can sleep with that as a blanket."

"For once, you actually said something useful."

"I think that's the closest I'll ever get to a compliment from you Sal-Robs."

"Don't get used to it."

He rips the tablecloth of the table and lays it out on the floor for them. They both get under the blanket and turn away from each other. She revels in the silence for once until he begins tapping a beat on the floor that she was somewhat familiar with.

At first, she was going to ignore it but he kept getting louder. She turns to look at him. "Can you not?!"

He looks at her innocently as if he didn't know what she was referring to. "Not what?"

"I'm trying to rest, and you're tapping is getting on my nerves."

He shrugs, "That sounds like a personal problem." He continued to tap and added on humming just to annoy her more. 

She groans angrily as she tries to scoot as far away from him as possible. She had to resist the urge to just slice her ears off.

***

_April 30, 2020_

The following morning, they got up and decided to head west to avoid anymore gang violence. They didn't really have a destination in sight at the moment. All that mattered now was to get out of the Outsiders territory. 

Like yesterday, Nini led the way with her compass. She almost fell asleep a few times due to the lack of sleep she got from his damned tapping. Jokes on him because if she falls out, he has to carry her or wait for her to wake up.

They had been walking in silence for an hour now. Though he wasn't exactly happy he only had her to converse with, she was better than nothing. The silence was killing him.

"You know when I saw you at the gas station, I was genuinely shocked you survived this long."

She looked at him taken aback by his words. "Why's that?"

He shrugs. "I don't know. You just don't seem like the type to survive an apocalypse. Thought you would've been gone by the first month."

She scoffs and shoves him lightly. "Screw you! I happen to have great survival skills as you can see. I'm shocked you were able to survive this long."

"Hey! I happen to have great agility and speed. I also got a little practice with weaponry during the first month. How did you even manage?"

"During the first few months before I bumped into you, I had been practicing my survival skills and stocked up on needs, not wants. I also mentally prepared for any possible scenario, except for being kidnapped I guess. I mostly just stayed in, but when the Outsiders started to take over, I knew I had to flee. Now I somehow ended up with you."

He nods as acknowledgement. 

"What about you Bowen? What were you doing before we got stuck together?"

He turned away from her and looked to the ground. "I'd rather not say."

Nini doesn't miss the regretful look in his eye. Though she was curious what happened, she decided not to push it.

***

_May 12, 2020_

They had stayed silent since then, only speaking when necessary. She must've hit a soft spot in him for him not to speak that long to her. She kinda felt bad, but it felt weird to sympathize for someone she's hated for years. It was probably for the best they don't speak anyways.

Whenever they'd rest or go to bed, Nini would whip out her journal and begin writing about her day. She tried to do it when he wasn't paying attention to avoid questions or mocking from him. 

They had been walking in the tall grasses on the side of the road when they heard cars coming. Cars were never a good sign and almost always meant Outsiders were near. Neither wanted to get captured again.

They both swiftly duck down onto ground and cover as much of their bodies to blend in with the grasses. They hear the cars slowly pass by, and they can see some that the car had the symbol for the Outsiders on the car. 

Ricky knew that this meant they were hunting for victims and resources. They hear the car park, and both look at each other in fear. 

They hear them jump off the car causing them both to gulp. Nini pulls a risky move by shifting her head a little over the grasses to get a better look at them. She gasped when she spotted a familiar face.

Her ex from her sophomore year, Howie, had been there dressed in full Outsiders gear. She felt herself become disgusted. She couldn't believe that she dated the enemy without knowing it.

"Can't wait to be done with the whole scoping the area thing. I'm so ready for this all to be ours." Howie says.

"Same man. Capturing people gets old real fast. I'm just ready to chill." One of the men says.

"No worries guys. At the rate we're going, we'll make northern Utah our bitch in a month. We were only set back by the invaders and the traitor." Another one says.

"True. We took down most of the neighboring tribes only like three to go or so." Howie says.

Their walkie talkies begin speaking, but Ricky and Nini couldn't make out the message. 

"The commander wants us to report back to the West Valley base. Let's roll out."

They watch as they get in their car. The pair wait until they are completely out of sight before coming from hiding.

She looks down the street they drove down. "They plan on taking over Utah?"

He nods. "Yeah. EJ has always been power hungry. It's not that shocking."

"I guess you're right." She turns to the opposite way they came. "We'll just keep heading west then. They don't seem interested in the land over there."

"They're not." He confirms.

She raises her brow at him wondering why he sounded so sure. He could read her lost expression.

"I overheard a lot before you got to the cell."

She nods, not giving it a second thought. "Let's keep walking. We got a few hours before night falls."

***

_May 17, 2020_

They come upon an old farm that seemed like someone had recently been living in it. He whips out his gun while she takes out her knife just in case they'll need to attack. Ricky spots what looks like agriculture being grown.

"I see a garden. We can take some of the food." 

He begins walking but she pulls him back by the chain. 

"Be careful. Someone probably stays here, so there might be booby traps laying around. They know people and animals would try to take it since food is scarce."

He scoffs and yanks the chain out of her hand. "Yeah, yeah I'll be careful."

She skeptically eyed their surroundings as they walked on the farm. Something felt off about this place. She felt as if she were being watched. She looked at the ground more since traps were usually tripwires. 

She began picking up any fruits laying in baskets and placing it in her bag carefully analyzing each one to check if there were some sort of tracking device or trap. She had been so focused on not triggering a trap that she forgot that Ricky was not nearly as careful as her. 

She looked over at him to see him reaching for an apple. She squinted her eyes at him and noticed that there was a thin tripwire on the apple he was about to touch.

"Ricky, don't touch that!"

He looked over at her. "Hm?" 

But it was already too late. The moment he grabbed it, a series of rocks and spears began shooting their way. 

"Fuck!" He yells.

"Dammit Ricky!"

She holds her bag a little above her head as they make a run for it. She gets hit by a few of the rocks on her torso and one on her leg. She doesn't bother to see if he was hit since getting out of there was more important at the moment.

When they finally get out of the danger zone, they stop running. She checks herself for any major injuries and was pleased to see it was only minor bruises and cuts. She looks over at Ricky and frowns.

He had been struck by a spear in his arm. Luckily, it had only grazed his arm instead of inserted it, but it was still something that needed to be tended to immediately. He seems to have not even noticed he had been struck.

"Why're you looking at me like that?"

She couldn't believe he didn't feel that oozing scar. "Dude, you've been hit." She points at his arm. When he sees it, he looks at it in fear.

"Holy shit!" He holds the scar to try to stop the bleeding. 

"I guess your adrenaline made you not feel it." She whips out her medical alcohol, ripped tablecloth, and a needle. "Sit down. I need to clean that before it gets infected."

"How the hell did you even have time to pack all this shit in that endless bag of yours?"

She rolls her eyes as she brings his arm to her. "Not gonna lie, this is gonna be a painful process since I have no drug to ease the pain. Wanna bite onto something to muffle the screams?"

He scoffs. "I don't need a muffle. I won't scream."

She shrugs. "Suit yourself."

She pours some alcohol on his arm, and he lets out blaring banshee like screech. 

"For fucks sake!"

She smirked and let out a snicker at his howl. Serves him right for not listening to her. 

"I bet you love this Sal-Robs."

"Just a little bit."

"You're a little sadist aren't you?"

She pours more alcohol on his wound as a response causing him to wince. "You could say that."

When she was done aiding to him, she took out the mangos she was able to steal. She hands him one. "Eat, you need it."

He takes it, and she hears him mutter something under his breath.

"What was that?"

"Thanks..." He mumbled. 

She heard him, but she loved hearing it come from him. She cups her ear. "I didn't hear you."

"I said...thank you." He mumbles the last two words.

"Can you repeat that?"

He rolled his eyes. "You heard me."

She chuckles under her breath as she takes a bite from her mango. "You're welcome." She kicked his foot playfully, and he did the same. She writes in her journal as they finish the rest of their fruit in silence. 

***

_June 7, 2020_

One night, she hears sniffling. She realized it was Ricky silently crying. He must've waited until he thought she was asleep. She was mentally trying to decide whether or not she should tell him she's awake. 

She realizes that he'd most likely be more embarrassed that she overheard him, so she chose not to. She wanted to desperately ask what was wrong and comfort him, but it felt out of character. 

So instead she played it off as if she were rolling in her sleep and rested an arm over him. He stills at the contact but doesn't remove her arm. After a while, he begins to calm down and fall asleep.

The following morning, he wakes up with a Reese's bar she had snuck in his hand. He looks over at her, and she gives him a knowing glance. He gives her a small grin as a silent thank you. They didn't speak about it again.

***

_June 14, 2020_

"Why the hell do we hate each other?"

Nini wasn't ready for a random question like that in the middle of setting up a fire for the night.

"Oh um..." She tried to remember the exact moment they had begun hating each other and realized she didn't really remember either. "Actually I'm not sure myself."

"Me neither. All I know is that we have been butting heads for over a decade."

"It seems natural for us."

"Agreed, but don't you think it's weird that we've been insulting each other for years for no real reason?"

"I guess you're right." She lit the fire on the campfire wood. "What made you think of that?"

He shrugs. "Just thinking out loud."

"It was probably because of your smart mouth."

He puffs air from his nose. "Or maybe it was because you were being uptight, and I felt the need to comment on it."

"See, it's comments like those that always stirred up a fight."

"I kind of looked forward to fighting with you. It was kinda...fun."

She tilted her head. "How so?"

"You make this funny face where you scrunch up your nose, and your face gets all red when you're mad. You only make it when I make you angry. It always made me laugh."

She huffed and slapped his arm. "You had the audacity to call me a sadist when you purposely tried to get a rise out of me for your amusement?"

"You're making the face again." He laughs.

She covered her face. "I hate you." Her tone doesn't sound like she meant it though.

"I don't think I ever truly hated you if I'm being honest."

"Wait really?"

"Yeah, I think it was just fun making you mad and also I admit it was a little from jealousy."

That through her off. "Jealousy? What the hell is there to be jealous of?"

"Well you're kinda perfect Nini. It was annoying witnessing someone like that. I felt intimidated."

"You were intimidated by me? Wow this is actually shocking and a little funny cuz I was intimidated by you."

He smirks. "Deadass?"

"Yeah, you were always partying, having fun, and goofing off. Everyone liked you except for me of course. You have fun memories of high school while I can only really recall my time spent towards planning my future. I always wanted to be care free like you."

He chuckled at the irony. "We're not so different at all huh princess?"

"Guess not."

"Well except the fact that I have way more agility, more laid back, overall cooler...." He says teasingly.

She rolled her eyes and kicked dirt towards him. "I can't stand you."

He smiles. "Sure Sal-Robs."

***

_June 27, 2020_

The following days had been pretty relaxing. There were no signs of Outsiders or other possible threats, which was a good sign that it was smooth sailing from now on. Also, Ricky and her hadn't been at each other's necks recently, so that was a plus.

Nini couldn't tell exactly where they were, but she knew it was at least the outskirts of Utah going onto the Nevada border. Nini had been looking at her compass not paying any mind to the scenery.

"Holy shit. Is that what I think it is?"

His random outburst caught her attention. "What?"

He points at a building a few feet away from them. "I'm pretty sure that's a record store."

She squinted at the sign, and it confirmed it indeed was a record store. "Yeah it is, why?"

He gives her a playful smile. "Let's check it out. I could use a walking break."

She shakes her head. "No, we don't have time for that. The sun is about to set, and we don't have a place to squat at."

He whines. "Oh come on Neens, we're in no rush. We can spare a few moments to just screw around. When's the last time you were able to just relax as if there were no care in the world? I sure as hell can't remember."

She sighed. She couldn't recall the last time she did anything for fun in general. Not even in her previous life. "Fine, but we can't stay too long."

He beams and drags her along with him to the store. He busted down the door with his foot and whipped out his gun. Thankfully, the coast was clear. 

He gazed around at the place in wonder. Despite it being abandoned, it kept up pretty well. Looks like no one had touched a singular thing in here, which would make sense since record stores don't hold anything valuable to people nowadays. This is the most peaceful he's been inside a building in a while.

He trails his fingers across the shelves while she follows behind. He spots a record that catches his eye. He takes it out and blows the dust off of it. He places it in one of the record players.

"September" begins blasting through the store catching her attention. He smirks and nods his head to the beat. 

Nini starts to get anxious that a threat might hear them. "Ricky, turn that down. Someone could be listening."

He doesn't listen. Instead he begins snapping his fingers and dancing towards her. "Do you remember the 21st night of September?" 

She rolled her eyes. "Ricky, come on."

"Love was changing the mind of pretenders."

He nudged her arm as he continued to sing along. She wanted to be annoyed, but she ended up smiling. He held an imaginary mic to her mouth.

"Come on Sal-Robs, you know you wanna sing the chorus. It's the best part."

She stared at him for a second before giving in and taking the imaginary mic. 

"Hey hey hey, ba de ya, say do you remember? Ba de ya, dancing in September. Ba de ya, never was a cloudy day."

He was surprised she had such a good singing voice. He joined her for the rest of the song. He danced around her and spun her on his free hand. She began to loosen up and let out a joyful laugh as she spun in circles.

He doesn't think he's ever seen her so happy before. He pulls her to him and dances around the store. She giggled as she stumbled trying to keep up with him since he was so much taller, but she seemed to be enjoying herself.

When the song ended, they stopped dancing to catch a breath. He smiles down at her. "You've got some good vocals Sal-Robs. Have you always sang like that?"

"Yeah, I was in chorus since like first grade and did theater all four years of high school." 

"Huh, I don't think I knew that despite knowing you for so many years."

"You weren't too bad yourself."

"So I've been told."

"You could've been in theater."

He releases her and lets out a low chuckle. "Not my style. Plus, we would've been fighting nonstop had I joined. I'm pretty sure neither of us would've wanted that."

She bit the inside of her cheek. "Fair point."

He begins walking around the store again as she trailed behind. He took her behind the counter and saw a bottle in the bottom shelf. He reached down and picked it up. He smirked when he saw it was a half full bottle of whiskey. Bingo.

"Look what I found."

He holds up the bottle at her eye level. She raises a brow. "Is that liquor?"

"Yes, and I've never been more excited to see a bottle in my life. It's the exact distraction I could use. I swear this place is my oasis."

"You enjoy that then."

"Want some?"

She fidgets with her fingers. "Oh um, I've never had alcohol before."

"Really? Huh, I just kinda assumed all 18 year olds have had at least one sip of alcohol before. I guess I can't be too shocked though."

"I didn't really have time for it I guess. I was too focused on work and school. I never made time for stuff like that, but I'm not completely opposed to trying it."

He hands her the bottle. "Wanna give it a try?"

She looked at it unsure. He picked up on her uncertainty.

"You don't have to if you don't want to."

She looks at the bottle and sighs. I mean she was already breaking a few rules. What's one more?

"Fuck it." She takes the bottle and begins chugging it. He was shook when she did because he knew how much it burned; she clearly did not know that. 

She begins choking, and he takes the bottle from her and drinks a bit of it. He snickers at her grimace. 

"Why didn't you tell me it was so spicy?"

"This has cinnamon in it, and liquor burns."

"That would've been nice to know beforehand Richard!"

He laughs as he takes another sip. "Well I gotta have a little fun."

She playfully hit his arm and snatched the bottle from him taking another sip. They end up listening to a series of different albums as they finish off the rest of the bottle.

They were both far too tipsy to leave the store, so they decided to stay there for the night. It was well into the night anyways, and it seemed like no threats were nearby. She's glad she listened to him because this ended up being a pleasant get away.

Turns out Nini is a talker when tipsy while Ricky liked to fidget and dance with no rhythm. They were currently laying on their backs on the floor staring at the ceiling as they listened to Amy Winehouse in the background. 

He had been humming along to the songs while she was lost in thought. Suddenly, she felt the urge to ask him a burning question she's had for weeks.

"Hey Ricky?"

The sound of his name makes him look over at her dazed. "What's up princess?"

"What was your last normal day like? I realized that I don't know much about you despite knowing you for years and being chained to you for weeks."

Ricky seemed to have sobered up by the question. He began spinning the little bit of liquor left in the bottle. 

"Yeah I'm not too crazy about talking about it."

"Oh I'm sorry! I didn't mean to make you upset. You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

He waved her off. "It's okay. I should probably get this off my chest anyways. My last normal day before the explosion was already a bad day."

He takes a moment to collect his thoughts before continuing. "You see, I never was on the best terms with my folks, especially my mom. I had gotten in this huge fight with the both of them that day for getting suspended for the second time that semester. Some mean words that should've never been said were spat from both myself and my parents. I still sometimes repeat the memory of the venomous words we said; I kick myself when I think of it. I can still see their disappointed and saddened faces."

He lets out a humorless snicker. She can see the pain in his eyes and hates that she even asked in the first place. 

"I had said that I hated them and never wanted to see them again, and boy did I get my wish. I had stormed out of the house and drove to the skate park to blow off some steam. A few minutes after I arrived, the explosion happened. 

"I had been out cold for a while before I remembered what happened. I quickly drove back to my house to see if my dad was there, but only saw some of the jewelry he had been wearing before I left on the ground. Then, I tried to contact my mom, but didn't get a hold of her."

"When I noticed they died, I had lost my mind and began destroying anything in my house out of anger and regret. When I was done, I decided to roam the city to see who else had passed. I had realized quickly that adults had been the only ones to die, which was odd. And that pretty much sums up my last normal day."

He looks over at her for the first time since he started talking to see her staring at him with sorrowful eyes. He never liked when people pitied him.

"Enough about me though. I've been wanting to ask you for a while; what's up with that journal you're always writing in?" 

He points to the journal sticking out of her bag. She knows he's trying his best to change the subject to her, and she took the hint. 

She grabs it and rubs her thumb across the cover. "You'll probably think it's silly."

"After what I admitted, I have no right to judge you."

He had a point there. "I guess you're right." She plays with the corners of the book. "I use it as a coping mechanism. It's kind of like a symbol that one day everything will be alright for me. One day I'll look back on all my adventures I documented, and it'll be a distant memory of a bad chapter of my life."

She opens to the first page skimming over the first day she began writing about the post apocalypse.

"I also wrote a little about my life with my friends and family before Armageddon. It was a reminder of my former life, so I will never forget them. I don't think I will, but I wrote it just in case. I was originally heading for Southern California to get away from the Outsiders and planned on staying there for the rest of my life."

"I wrote down holidays and birthdays of loved ones so I can keep up with dates just in case the world magically goes back to normal. Someone's gotta keep up with it right? It's my own way of taking back control of my life I guess. Like I said, it's silly."

She feels his hand rest on top of hers. She feels her heart beat faster at the contact. 

"It's not silly. I actually find it kinda endearing. I wish I thought of that."

She blushes and grins. "You think so?"

He nods. "Yeah, it's nice that you're optimistic about the world possibly going back to normal. It's a great way to keep your sanity when the universe has screwed us all over. You're the first person I've met that thinks like that. I admire it."

She pushes a hair behind her ear. "So uh where were you heading when we bumped into each other?"

"I planned on heading to the mountains of Colorado, so I can be alone. It's really calm there. My dad took me there a few times, and I loved it there. I know the perfect cabin to stay in. Guess that's out of the picture now." He holds up the chain.

"Sorry."

He shrugs as he plays with their chains. "It's fine. It's not all bad. Plans change." He finishes the rest of the liquor. "Do you think that when we hit 20, we'll die like the rest of them or are we immune?"

"I wondered that too. I think we'll survive because we're immune to the environment. And whatever deity created the Armageddon clearly wanted us to live, so I think we'll be fine."

He smiles. "I like that outtake."

"Yeah, me too."

"You know, you're okay Sal-Robs."

She chuckles. "Yeah." She looks over at him and gives him a warm smile. "You're alright too."

The rest of the night was spent in comfortable silence as they let Amy sing on repeat both too lazy and exhausted to change the record. 

He creeps his hand into hers as his eyes shut letting his tiredness overcome him. She likes how well his hand fits into hers. She ends up dreaming for the first time in months.

***

_July 8, 2020_

A few days passed, and Nini realized they're friends now. They're definitely an unlikely duo, but somehow it works. At the end of the day, they're both just two teens trying to survive the end of the world. Besides, he ended up not being such bad company.

Today she noticed that he had been a little distant. She wasn't sure why though. He had been pretty talkative recently. She didn't want to pry though. 

He was never too big on the whole sharing emotions thing. After all, it took him months just to tell her what happened the day of Armageddon. 

She watched him as he stared down at the knife he was sharpening. He looked lost in his thoughts. 

He groaned. "Nini, I can literally feel your eyes on me. What's up?" He doesn't even look up from his knife.

Her face reddens at being caught. "Sorry, I just was a little concerned about you."

That made him stop to look at her. "Why?"

"Well you've been quiet, which is really weird for you."

"What, a man can't be quiet without it being suspicious?"

"I mean they can, but it's weird when it's you."

"Well don't worry about me."

"Ricky..."

He waved her off. "Drop it." He says sternly.

She held her hands up in surrender. "Fine."

They set up camp for the night in silence avoiding talking to each other. She scooted as far away from him as she could and made sure to face away from him. 

The tension was thick between them, and she hated that they were back to their old ways. She had gotten used to talking to him. She heard him loudly sigh and rustle a bit behind her.

"I'm sorry."

She peered over her shoulder. "What?"

"I took my anger out on you. I'm not upset with you. I'm mad at myself for something I did in the past. It still haunts me."

She rolled over to face him. "Wanna talk about it?"

"I think so, but I'm not sure."

"I'm all ears when you're ready."

He stared at his hands not wanting to meet her eye. "I'm scared what you'll think of me."

That alarmed her. "Ricky it's okay. It's just me."

When he doesn't respond, she sneaks her hand into his to encourage him. He feels reassured when he sees the kindness in her eyes. 

"I knew a lot about the Outsiders because I _was_ one of the Outsiders."

Nini gasped. "What?!"

"Calm down, the keyword is _was_. I wouldn't dare to be seen with one now."

"Well what happened?"

"During the first three months, I didn't know how to survive on my own. I didn't have that many survival skills, and most of the valuable resources were taken up already. I had nowhere to go. Then, I bumped into one of my old skate buddies while I was out, and he had told me about this rising gang called the Outsiders. I wasn't too fond of joining a gang since they usually turned out violent, especially since it was a bunch of former athletes who were already aggressive people."

"I rejected him, but he just kept asking and asking, and I was a little afraid he'd kill me if I said no the more he asked. His voice would progressively get more belligerent, so I just said yes. When I did join, the first thing they made me do is make an oath to them like it was some cult. I knew it was bullshit, but I played along out of fear."

"Then, they make you do training, which takes three weeks to a month. We basically learn how to kill, steal, and conquer. After that month was up, we're assigned our first mission. Mine was to rob a house alone. They told me it'd be easy since no one would be home, or so I thought. Turns out, the one I had to rob was a house of three helpless kids."

"All of them ranged from the ages 9-14. They were so terrified when I barged in with my machine gun. I can see their faces even now. I don't know if the Outsiders knew it wasn't empty, but something tells me they did. When I saw those kids, I knew this wasn't it for me. I stole one useful item and shot three shots into the couch just so they wouldn't bother that house again, but it still haunts me. I think it's because I saw myself in them. Just some scared kid trying to survive."

"I knew I had to find a way to get out of this mess, but it was going to be hard. The security is insane. I had to stage a break out, so I signed up for night watch and sprayed all the cameras when they were asleep and stole as many weapons and necessities as possible. Then, I set up a line of bombs near one of their weapon sheds and blew it up."

"The second I did, I jumped over the exact same gate we jumped over hence why I knew that way when we broke out. After I ran, I found a little abandoned treehouse in the woods of West Valley and made it my home for two months." 

"However one day an Outsider spotted me climbing down from my tree, and I had to flee which led me to the gas station I ran into you at. Then I stole your knife because I left mine. I lost that by the way; super sorry about that."

"Any who, I ran a few blocks before deciding to take a breather by a tree. That was my mistake. You never take breaks when you're on the run. Suddenly, I was blindfolded and thrown into the back of a trunk, and the rest was history."

He saw Nini's mouth was gaped. He gulped when he saw her expression. "I knew you'd look at me differently. I should've never told you." He begins to roll over, but she stops him.

"I don't judge you. Matter of fact, I'm proud of you."

He makes a stunned expression. "Seriously?"

"Of course. I understand peer pressure can lead to making stupid decisions, and it took a lot of balls to blow up a terrorists group's weapons. I don't think I could've even done that, and it's really sweet what you did for those kids. Ricky, you have nothing to be ashamed of. You're a good person."

He beams, and he can feel his eyes welling up. He never thought he'd hear those words.

"Thank you Nini. You don't know how much that means to me."

"Anytime."

He tightens his grip on her hand and scoots closer to her. 

"I wish we were friends before the explosion. I needed someone like you around back then."

"We're friends now. That's all that matters, right?"

He smiles. "Yeah." He rubs his thumb on the back of her hand. He thought of pressing a kiss on her hand but decided against it. "You're all that matters." 

***

_July 10, 2020_

Nini woke up to the sun beaming down on her face. They had slept outside in tall grasses since there wasn't a singular shelter in sight. 

She looks over to her side to see Ricky had already been up and was fiddling with something. He had his back turned to her, so she couldn't tell what. 

"You're up early."

He twisted his head over his shoulder and gave her a faint grin. "Uh yeah, I wanted to get a head start on something."

That piqued her interest. "On what?"

He blushes and turns his back to her again. "It's a little something...for you."

"For me?"

He slowly rolled over and had a bouquet of hand picked flowers he must've picked from the flowers around them. Her eyes twinkled at the assortment of colorful flowers.

"Why'd you do this for me?"

He blushes and scratches the back of his neck. "Okay don't be mad, but I may or may not have peaked in your journal to check when your birthday was. I wanted to give you a little something since you clearly treasure stuff like that and all."

She takes the bouquet and marvels at them some more. She was at a loss of words. That must've made him feel anxious because she could see the rising fear in his eyes.

"Sorry if I overstepped my boundaries! You can just throw them away; it was stupid."

He covered his face with his hands to cover his rosy face. She giggles at him and removes his hands from his face. "Ricky, don't stress. I think this was very sweet of you. I didn't even plan on acknowledging my birthday today, so this was a nice surprise."

He feels his cheeks cool off. "Yeah?"

She nods. "Yeah." She reaches over, pecks his cheek, and hugs him. "Thank you."

He takes a second to register that she's hugging him, but soon after he embraced her back. He felt his cheeks begin to heat up again. Both feel their heartbeats quicken as they hold onto each other neither wanting to let go anytime soon.

***

_July 13, 2020_

They took a lunch break on a grassy field near some abandoned vehicles. They had split a mango and some bread and shared a water bottle. Ricky had been fiddling with the grass as Nini wrote in her journal. 

He wasn't looking where he was putting his hand and felt something cold and metallic. He whipped his hand away and scrunched his brows as he analyzed what he touched. He saw that they were rusted pliers behind one of the tires of an abandoned sedan. 

Though they were rusty, they'd still be able to cut their chain off. Ricky was about to reach for them, but something had stopped him. He realized that if he broke the chains, he would most likely split from Nini and never see her again. 

He was hesitant to tell her he saw pliers. She'd be furious if she ever found out that they could've been free sooner, but he wanted to be selfish just a little bit longer. He ended up liking her around more than he cared to admit.

"What're you looking at Ricky?"

He jumps at the sound of her voice and paints on a fake smile. "Oh uh nothing. Just staring into space." He pushes back the pliers so it wasn't visible to her. "We should get going. I think I heard a wolf howl."

"Oh shit for real? Alright let's go." 

As she begins packing up, his smile drops while he watches her. He feels horrible for lying to her; she doesn't deserve this. He doesn't deserve her. But he thinks ~~knows~~ that without her, he won't be able to carry on. And not just because she has all the supplies. 

"Why're you staring at me?"

"You got something on your face." He lies.

"Where?"

He smirks. "This." 

He squirts the water bottle at her face and laughs when she squeals. 

"I'm gonna kill you!"

"No you won't; you need me."

She stuck her tongue out at him and tried her best to hide her smile. 

He cringed at his own words due to the irony. 

_I'm so sorry, Nini. Please forgive me._

***

_July 23, 2020_

Today had been the most eventful, and frankly one of their favorite days. It might've even topped the record store.

They were somewhat close to the Utah-Nevada borderline. They hadn't seen any people since they saw those Outsiders weeks ago.

They end up going through some more woods trying to see if there were any vegetation that'd be useful. They saw a stream where there had been some berries growing near it. 

"You pick from that bush, and I'll pull from the other." She directs.

He mock solutes. "Sure thing princess."

As they were busy gathering, neither heard the quiet tiny footsteps steadily approaching behind them. Ricky saw something moving towards Nini in his side vision and gasped when he saw it was a person with a spear.

"Nini, behind you!"

She turned around and yelped when she saw a spear to her throat. She was about to reach for her pocket knife, but another person kicked it out of her hand.

"Intruders!" One of them says.

Ricky looked around and spotted exactly five of these little people with spears. They had looked like Lost Boys dressed in animal skins and war paint. He couldn't even see their true faces under all the makeup.

"Come with us without a fight, or your friend here will be executed." The one with the spear to her throat says to Ricky.

He peeks at her to see she's trying her best not to choke up in front of them, but he can see right through it.

"Fine."

They force the both of them up and direct them to follow them. The capturers begin speaking some language neither of them were familiar with.

They finally arrive at a huge tree, which confused the pair. One of the people knocks in code, and seconds later they hear the loud sound of a door opening from the ground by the tree. Ricky and Nini stare at the door in awe. They've never seen anything like it.

The door had stairs with a light far in the distance. They hear the door close behind them as they go down. Ricky wanted to be scared, but he ended up being more impressed that someone was able to camouflage themselves like this.

When they finally got to the end of the stairs, he had been ten times more impressed than he was before. There had been hundreds of mini people in this underground city. 

It had looked like a huge hobbit hole and had functioning lighting throughout the place. He couldn't believe they were able to create this. The Outsiders had nothing on these people.

He looked over at Nini who had an equally amazed face on. The feeling of the capturers pushing them snapped them out of it. They hear the people of this city speak in the same unknown language they heard earlier as they watch them walk by.

They push the both into a room of what they expect is their leader's headquarters. They only saw the back of a throne but could tell someone was sitting in it. The other people all kneel and force Nini and Ricky to do the same. 

"Commander, we have found two intruders near the stream taking our berries. What shall we do with them?"

The leader snickers. "Intruders huh? Haven't had one of those in a while." He presses a button and the throne begins to slowly face them. When it was fully faced towards them, Ricky was shocked at how young he was. 

He had looked as if he had been in early middle school. Matter of fact, all these people look like they could've been in middle school.

"What brings you to Grounders territory intruders? Tell the truth because I can always tell when people are lying to me."

"We were just looking for some food. We didn't know it was someone else's food. Hell we didn't even know who you guys were until today. If you let us go, we promise to leave without a fight." Ricky states. 

Nini finally peeked up at the leader and squinted her eyes. The kid looked familiar, but it was hard to see under all the paint.

"How can I trust you two? You could be one of those barbaric Outsiders or part of some other tribe."

Nini gasped louder than intended when she realized who he was. "Oh my god, Cody is that you?!"

Everyone stared at her. Cody scanned her up and down before registering who she was. "Nini?"

"Yeah it's me! I thought you died or something because you never came back."

He seemed to have eased up. "I thought you were dead too. I'm sorry for not coming back. I got chased out by some Outsiders. I ended up hitching a ride with someone and ended up here." He looked over at his people. "Guards unhand them. These people are allies. Leave us three alone."

They release them and leave the room. Ricky had been confused. "Wait so how do you two know each other?"

"I used to teach him piano. He was a real sweet and reserved kid, which leads me to the question of how the hell did you manage to lead an entire tribe? You could barely look me in the eye."

"It's not hard convincing a bunch of orphaned middle schoolers to join a tribe. What else are they gonna do? The younger you are in this world, the least likely you'll survive on your own. That's why I grouped all of us together, so we have each other's backs."

"That's actually really smart. I'm proud of you."

He beams that same childish grin. "Thanks." He notices that they have a chain in between each other. "What's up with the chain?"

Ricky holds it up. "We got captured by some Outsiders a few months ago and escaped, but we never got the chance to break the chains."

"Oh I can take care of that for you." He opens his door. "Guards, bring some pliers to me." Minutes later, a guard comes in with huge pliers. "Cut their chain." After a few seconds, the chain was broken in half. They also undid the cuffs on their wrist.

Nini stared at her bare wrist in glee. "I never in my life thought I'd be this excited to see my wrist! We're finally free Ricky! Isn't that great?"

He was happy to finally have his hand back too, but then he remembered what this meant for them. Their journey was over, and he wasn't sure if he was ready to say goodbye yet. But when he saw how thrilled she was to be free of him, he felt guilt overtake him for holding her hostage longer than she had to. 

He formed a fake smile. "Yeah...we're free."

Nini wrapped Cody in a huge hug. "Thank you so much. I'm so happy we bumped into you."

Cody hugged her back just as firmly. "Of course. I imagine you two must be hungry and in need of shelter and no offense but a bath. We have a few open rooms that you can stay in for a few days, but you can't stay forever. The Grounders only have so many resources."

"None taken, and we do need all of those things. We're so grateful for your hospitality. Right Ricky?"

He nods. "Yes very."

"It's no big deal. Guards show them to the excess rooms. You both can bath and meet us in the dining area. We can clean those clothes too."

"Thanks again!" Nini says as they exit.

She skipped as she followed the guards while Ricky tried to hide his sadness from her. He felt her grab his hand. She didn't say anything, but her eyes said it all. He grazed his thumb on her hand the entire way to their separate rooms. They looked at each other before entering.

"This feels unreal. I felt like I'd be chained to you for the rest of my life."

He felt the guilt begin to build. "I thought so too. It's gonna be weird not being in the same place as you."

"Yeah." She stares down at their attached hands, and he swore he saw sadness in her eyes. "I'll see you in a little bit."

"You too."

They slowly let go of each other letting their fingers linger as they enter their rooms. Ricky found himself staring at her door after she closed the door before finally going inside.

After they bathed and dressed in the clothes Grounders provided, they feasted on the impressive meal the Grounders were able to whip up. It looked like a Thanksgiving dinner the way the platters were set up for all 100 or so of them. 

Nini and Ricky had eaten until they couldn't anymore. They haven't had anything besides canned foods, candy bars, and fruits for months, so this is refreshing. When it was time to retire for the night, everyone went to their rooms. 

Ricky had been wide awake as he lied on his bed. He had been unable to sleep due to his mind being occupied with all things Nini. He had gotten used to sleeping beside her and now it felt as if something were missing. 

He tossed and turned trying his best to get her off his mind, but nothing worked. Finally accepting that he wouldn't be sleeping anytime soon, he decided to walk around the halls to maybe tire himself out. 

As he opened his door, Nini's door opened at the same time. They met eyes and smiled.

"Can't sleep either?"

He shakes his head. "Nah."

"Me neither." A moment of silence goes by as they stare at each other. "Do you maybe wanna come in? We can probably talk until we drift off."

He feels his lips turn into a smile. "I'd like that."

He follows her inside her bedroom, closing the door behind him. They plop down on her bed lying on their backs. He gets flashbacks of the night at the record store where they were in this exact position, staring at the ceiling in peaceful silence. 

She turns her body towards him, resting her hands under her head. "What did you wanna be before the explosion?"

He faces her. "I didn't really have a plan for my future like most. I just knew I wanted out of Salt Lake and to start life already. College wasn't an option for me and neither was the military. I'd probably end up just doing odd jobs here and there until I was stuck somewhere. What about you?"

She sighs, and he can see how upset she was. "I was gonna go to my dream school Juilliard for four years, and graduate at the top of my class with a bachelor's in music studies and a minor in English literature as a backup in case music doesn't work out. I was gonna try to work for Broadway and live in New York City forever. I hate that I'll never get to experience that. It seems like a dream now."

He scoots closer to her and rests his hand on her face. "I'm sorry you never got to live out your dreams."

She shrugs trying to play it off as if it didn't bother her, but he knew it did. He'd be upset if he didn't get to accomplish big dreams like that if he were in her shoes too. "It's fine. My life could be worse. At least I'm surrounded by good people right now. I could be in a prison or dead, but I'm here with you which is enough."

"I'm happy I'm here with you too. I don't know what I'd do without you."

She smiled and placed her hand on top of his. "I can't believe this is some of our last days together."

He held back the sob he wanted to let out. He just nods knowing that if he were to talk he might end up crying or selfishly ask her to stay with him. He couldn't be more selfish than he had already been with her in the past. She didn't deserve that; she deserved to thrive. It's the least he could do for her.

"Ricky, have you ever been in love?" 

He wasn't expecting that at all. "I don't think I know what love feels like."

"I never got to experience genuine love. I only dated once and it ended sourly, and I never fell hard for him. I heard from my Lola that love was supposed to be this painful yet blissful feeling. It makes you do selfish and stupid things. That person can make your day ten times better just by being in their presence, and you'd do anything for them no matter what. It feels like you're stuck in a dreamlike state with them, and you can never get tired of them even when they irritate you."

Ricky felt his heartbeat pick up the more she spoke. Everything she listed off checked a box on how he felt towards her. Then everything made sense. He began tearing up without noticing alarming her. 

She cupped his face and began wiping his tears away. "What's wrong?"

He couldn't tell her how he felt. He didn't want to make her feel weird if she didn't feel the same. "I'm really gonna miss you Neens."

She began tearing up too. She gently rested her head on his with her eyes shut. "I'm gonna miss you too."

He pulled her closer to him causing her to roll on top of him. She held on just as tight, relishing his touch. When she opened her eyes, she was enchanted by his gaze. He had a look in his eyes that she's never seen before, but for some reason she couldn't break her eyes away.

She saw him glance down at her lips and didn't even notice herself slowly approaching him. He trailed his hands up her back. "You're gorgeous Nini."

She ghosted her lips over his before finally closing the space in between. He didn't hesitate to kiss back; he brought her as close to him as possible. The kiss quickly became more passionate with them releasing an occasional moan. He slipped his tongue inside her mouth wanting to taste her more. She gladly let him and grinded her hips on him. 

They began pulling at each other's clothes trying to feel more skin. They ripped off their clothes until they were completely bare. He rolled them over so that he was on top and began kissing her neck sucking on her sensitive areas. She moaned and wrapped her legs around his waist. 

He felt himself harden more at the feeling of her center pressed against his shaft. She intentionally rubbed herself against him to get a rise out of him. He grunted before releasing his mouth from her neck to meet her eye.

"Nini, I want you so bad."

She smirked. "I want you too."

"Can I?" He notions towards his shaft.

She nods. "Yes, but be gentle. It's my first time."

"Okay sweetheart." He gave her a sweet kiss before aligning himself with her entrance. He lifted her waist off the bed and steadily inserted himself into her. She let out a squeal mixed with pleasure and pain the deeper he got. 

Once he was fully inside, he hugged her body and placed kisses along her neck to distract her from the pain. He began slowly rocking into her loving how perfectly their bodies fit together. She grabbed a handful of his hair and kissed his shoulder. 

The following hours had been spent making each other feel like they were in heaven using their bodies and soft attentive touches. Both were desperately trying to enjoy each other's company just for a little longer.

When they finished, she asked him to stay and he of course agreed. They got into spooning position and held hands. Neither could stop the fire that was lit inside of their hearts or the blissful smile that wouldn't leave their faces.

"Night princess."

 _I love you._ He desperately wants to say. 

"Sweet dreams."

He buries his face in the crook of her neck letting sleep take over him. Little did he know, she had desperately wanted to say those three words too. 

***

_July 26, 2020_

They had spent the last few days completely wrapped in each other. They were basically clinging onto each other cherishing every passing moment before they parted ways. They'd find some way to touch each other even if it was something as simple as playing with each other's hair.

Their time in the Grounders territory was up as of today. As a parting gift, Cody provided them both with maps of the west coast so that they can get to where they need to go easier. They also give them a little food, water, and weapons. Cody had walked them both to the exit.

"It was a pleasure having the both of you, and it's always nice seeing you Nini."

"The pleasure was all ours. There are enough thank you's I could say to make up for everything you've done for us."

Cody waves her off. "Seriously, it was no biggie. You two be careful. There are threats everywhere."

That made Ricky remember something. "Speaking of threats, Outsiders plan on hunting down tribes, killing them off, and taking them hostage, so look out for that."

"I'll alarm my people. Thank you for the heads up."

He went up and gave Nini a hug. "Safe travels."

He gave them both a fleeting smile before returning to the underground. They both turned to each other. They both have crestfallen expressions knowing that this was the last time they'd be seeing each other.

Nini makes a staged grin. "Well, this is it."

"Looks like it."

"It's gonna be weird not having you trail behind me, or talk my ear off."

He giggles. "It's gonna be weird not having you boss me around and tell me to stop hogging the blanket."

"Yeah..."

A moment goes by where neither speak.

"I'm gonna feel so empty without you." He tries to play it off jokingly, but his eyes snitch on him.

She pulls her scrunchy off her head and hands it to him. "Take this, and put it on your wrist. Whenever you're lonely, look at it and think of me. I'll always be with you even when I'm not physically there."

He takes it and slides it on his wrist. He takes off the ring he had been wearing all this time, and places it in her hand. "And when you're lonely, look at this ring and think of me."

She felt her eyes begin to water as she slid the ring on her index. "Good luck in Colorado."

"Thanks, you'll be great in Cali."

She gets on her tippy toes and wraps her arms around his neck. He snakes his arms around her frame and nuzzles his head in the crook of her neck. They had stood there in one another's arms savoring every second.

She had been the first to let go, but she still kept her arms on him. "Take care Ricky."

"You too."

They slowly release one another but their fingers linger as they walk away. She walked a good few feet from him and turned to look back at him. He had been dragging his feet as he walked away.

"I love you." She whispers.

She turned back around and began her quest to California. Unbeknownst to her, he had taken one last look at her when she wasn't looking too.

When the evening sky turned purple, Nini ended up finding shelter in an old abandoned car. She breaks the lock to get in the backseat and covers herself with the tablecloth they used to share.

She allowed herself to finally let out all the tears she had been holding back. She didn't want to tell him to stay with her because that'd be selfish. He wanted to go to the mountains while she wanted to be in the woods of California. 

She didn't want to damper with his plans more than she already has. This was for the best. She cries until it drains her, and she ends up dreaming of him holding her to his chest.

***

_August 6, 2020_

It's been a week without Ricky, and every passing moment feels like hell.

She had missed him a lot more than she thought she would. She felt like she lost a limb. She sees a road sign in the distance. She walks up to it and notices it's the borderline sign from Utah to Nevada.

_"Thanks for stopping by Utah! Hope to see you soon!"_

She sighs. She had finally made it to this damn borderline; one more state line until she made it to her goal. Despite finally getting to a good point, she didn't feel content at all. 

She was about to step over the stateline but stopped mid air. This doesn't feel right. Something is missing, or should she say _someone_ is. 

This isn't what she wanted or needed anymore. California was just an escape plan. It didn't matter what state she was in, as long as it was away from Outsiders. As long as it was with Ricky.

She quickly turned on her heel and began running the opposite direction. She let her feet guide her while adrenaline coursed through her veins. She only had one mission: find Ricky.

She ran for miles and miles only stopping for water and food. She then realized that Ricky was probably somewhere close to the border of Colorado by now, and that this running was pointless. She'd never be able to catch up.

She stopped running feeling discouraged by that thought. She fell to her knees and let her tears fall down her cheeks. She was foolish for letting him go. She stared down at the ring he gave her and spun it on her finger.

"I'm sorry. I should've never let you go."

***

_August 13, 2020_

She kept on walking towards Colorado even though she knew it was extremely unlikely for her to bump into him again, but a part of her told her to keep pushing on.

She had gone towards Northern Utah just above Salt Lake to avoid Outsiders, which is the way he most likely went too. She had been walking in the middle of the road exhausted from her quest. 

Suddenly, she stops when she sees a figure in the distance. The person had been walking towards her. She couldn't make out who or what tribe they could be a part of, so she whips out her knife just in case they're a threat.

She gradually got closer to them. She squints her eyes when she can see their face a little more clearly. "Who are you?!"

The person stopped at the sound of her voice but didn't respond. She kept walking closer. "I said who are you?!"

"Nini?"

She stops at the sound of her name. She recognized that voice anywhere. 

"Ricky?"

He makes a toothy grin. "Oh my god princess, it’s really you?"

The nickname confirmed it for her. “Ricky!”

She drops her knife and begins sprinting to him as he did the same. He picked her up and began spinning her in the air. She wrapped her legs around him and laughed wholeheartedly. When he put her down, he placed his head on hers.

"I came looking for you. I just couldn't stomach living without you. It was such a mistake leaving you Nini. And I regret not telling you all those weeks ago how I felt about you. Nini, I'm so in love with you. I'm talking about that same intense feeling you were talking about in bed. Nini I adore you more than anything else in this world. All I want is you."

She began tearing up. "I came searching for you too! I realized that my plans to be alone wasn't what I wanted anymore. I just wanted to be with you. I'm so deeply in love with you Ricky. Let's promise to never leave each other's side again."

He grins from ear to ear. "Deal."

She smashes her lips on his, and he happily kisses back. When they detached their lips, they both decided to not go to California or Colorado since that was their former goal. They chose to migrate to Oregon since it was a combination of what they both wanted. 

It took months to get there, but they were able to find an abandoned cottage in southern Oregon that was suiting for them. They lived with no fear of Outsiders and no cares in the world. 

They had found complete solace in one another.

***

_October 15, 2021_

_I thought I had lost everything: my life, my parents, my family, and my future. But then the world gave me the greatest gift anyone had ever given me._

_Love._

_I didn't think it'd be possible to even think of romance ever again, but then he came into my life, and I felt alive again. I wasn't just existing anymore; I was living. He picked up all the broken pieces and mended my heart again. And as I write this in bed, I'm smiling as he turns in his slumber wondering what he's dreaming about. And I fall in love all over again._

_So make this a lesson. No matter how hard life gets, no matter if the world comes crumbling down around you, love will always overpower it all._

_I leave you with these wise words my Lola used to say to me as a child: Love is the grace that transcends any kind of injustice in the end._

_I hope everyone gets to feel the absolute elation that is falling in love. There is no sweeter song, no heart so true, no greater love, than what I feel for him. I can't wait to witness our love bloom my darling._

_***_

_You and me alone_

_Madness of the world locked away_

_Peace and quiet reigns_

**Author's Note:**

> And that concludes my longest one shot yet.
> 
> Embarrassed to say I procrastinated this story since May, but glad I was finally able to post it. Besides, October is the most appropriate for apocalypse fics right?
> 
> Leave your thoughts! I always love feedback.
> 
> Quote is by Paul Holmes.


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